In a game where two other bowlers of his ilk who don Indian colours were in action, Ashok Dinda turned the spotlight on himself with a lion-hearted performance that fetched him seven for 26 in East Zone's drawn match against South Zone on Wednesday.
The Duleep Trophy semifinal turned out to be a straight contest between Dinda and the might of South Zone batting while R Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun had to remain content playing part roles.
It was just the kind of start to the new season Dinda would have hoped for, especially after a fantastic outing last year when he scalped 37 wickets. It also augurs well for India's pace-bowling plans with England and Australia scheduled to tour India next and the team management still busy figuring how to revolve the pacers around Zaheer Khan.
Dinda was cross with himself for the poor first innings effort (2-85 ) where he was guilty of not making batsmen play enough. On Wednesday, he stuck to the basics, bowled straight and what happened in the next few overs is stuff bowlers dream of. The 25-year-old bowled 11 overs on the trot in his first spell, relentlessly charged in, worked up good pace and hit the right areas. Seven batsmen succumbed to his skill and only R Prasanna can claim to be unlucky that the ball kept low.
Returns of 7-20 from that spell certainly cannot be ordinary given the fact that the rest of the bowlers struggled to hassle batsmen on a flat wicket.
"It was a 'patta' wicket and we knew they had a very good line-up. We also knew that if they get off to a good start, we'll be in trouble because the target we set for them was quite gettable," said Dinda, revelling in his effort after the match. With Dinda on a song skipper Nataraj Behera tested his spearhead to the limit, bringing him on relentlessly. "Ya, I shouldn't have bowled so many overs straight," Dinda conceded, adding "but I'm happy with my effort."
Fitness Update...
Zaheer Khan: Was rested for 2012 Asia Cup. Has had fitness issues but is OK now
Umesh Yadav: Rested for the Asia Cup and World T20. Has had no fitness problems.
Ishant Sharma: Underwent ankle surgery after Test series against Australia in January. Returned for the Test series against New Zealand, but didn't play.
Varun Aaron: Has been suffering from chronic back injury since the Mumbai Test against the West Indies last year.
S Sreesanth: Underwent surgeries on both toes in May and has been out since. Hasn't played for India since last August and has only one first-class game under his belt.
Aaron and his troubled back
Varun Aaron is expected to continue his rehab programme at the academy to cure his back problem. The Jharkhand pacer has been carrying the injury since the an ODI against West Indies in Indore last year. However, it got aggravated during his stint in the 2012 IPL. Aaron's rehab programme is likely to conclude by October end, and he can be expected to work on match fitness thereafter.
Lot to learn from Balaji
A stress fracture in the back had all but finished Laxmipathy Balaji's career in the mid-2000s. But the paceman was not ready to give up. It took him almost two years and endless sessions at the nets to come back. IPL 2008 was crucial and even though he had lost pace, the guile and accuracy earned him a hat-trick. Balaji made the India squad for the New Zealand series in 2009, but did not get a game. It would have broken many nearing 30, but not Balaji. Persistent efforts in Ranji and IPL finally brought him back for the World T20.
Sree's back at the nets
Sreesanth, who hasn't turned out for India post the Test series in England 2011 August, played one first-class match thereafter before picking up a toe injury. After prolonged rest, the Kerala pacer resumed batting in the nets at Bangalore's National Cricket Academy (NCA) three weeks ago and has also started work on his bowling. Sreesanth is now bowling short spells already under the watchful eye of physiotherapist Nitin Patel and the 29-year-old is expected to be fit by November.
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